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We, the Board of Directors of the Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA), express our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11.

We very strongly condemn the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against innocent victims. We, like others across America and the world, have been affected, heartbroken, and touched by this terrible tragedy.

We honor those brave passengers aboard the fourth hijacked plane who thwarted the hijackers’ attempts to inflict even more harm.

We express our gratitude for the heroism of our firefighters, policemen, and emergency workers, many of who made the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives, so that others may live.

We sincerely hope for justice for all the victims of the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We hope that our anti-terrorism activities will prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future.

We express our solidarity with our South Asian, Middle-Eastern, and other brothers and sisters in the United States who are being victimized and terrified by the backlash of discrimination and hate crimes (e.g. the murder of an innocent Indian Sikh), based on ethnic, cultural, political, and religious prejudice and stereotyping.

We join all Americans in strongly condemning such discriminatory actions against those who are law-abiding U.S. citizens, residents and visitors. We call on the law enforcement agencies to enforce the law in instances where hate crimes have been committed.